Pace Discrepancy (Read 1246 times)

Nike + sucks for accuracy. I took a trip to Denmark for work and the person (vendor) I was traveling with had one. We ran together every other day when we were in Copenhagen. The first day I was surprised when he said we did just over two miles. I KNOW my pace and I knew the run we did had to be about 3.5 miles. When I got home and measured via Google Earth (very, very accurate per many driving trips around the neighborhood) and I was right on. Unless something has advanced greatly over the last 2.5 years, I would say if you want better accuracy get a Garmin....

My Nike Plus thought I ran 7.8 miles the other day, when I know for certain I ran 5.7 miles. Even calibrated, it isn't that darn accurate. That said, all the other stuff is true about running faster outdoors.

My Nike Plus thought I ran 7.8 miles the other day, when I know for certain I ran 5.7 miles. Even calibrated, it isn't that darn accurate. That said, all the other stuff is true about running faster outdoors.

Was that discrepancy after the calibration?

For whatever reason my perceived level of effort on the mill is greater than the road at slower speeds, like 9:00 to 10:00 MPM. I expend less effort to run that pace on the street. But at faster speeds, like 7:30 to 8:00,, for some reason I don't sense nearly as much difference,, an 8:00 min mile on the treadmill seems about the same as the street.

For whatever reason my perceived level of effort on the mill is greater than the road at slower speeds, like 9:00 to 10:00 MPM. I expend less effort to run that pace on the street.

FWIW this is probably what's going on with me. Pretty much the only runs I do on the 'mill are easy recovery runs and for some reason on the mill I have to keep it very slow for it to truly feel easy. I blame the boredom factor, the heating/cooling issue that has been mentioned and the fact that my treadmill is a POS that I got for free.

Over the past year, there have been a few threads concerning pace on the Tread Mill and all seem to say the same thing. That while running on the TM, the pace seems to be a lot tougher. If you run 9 Min per mile, the same effort on at TM can only get you 10 or 11 Min per mile.....and on and on. I can't really explain why this is, but it definately seems to be a common observation....

It is a common observation, but I wouldn't say that this is the absolute conclusion. Some people find running on the treadmill seems easier than running outside (at roughly the same pace), others find it harder. This is a comet topic. To make things more... or maybe less... confusing... I belong to a gym that has two locations. The treadmills are basically the same model at both locations BUT it is much, much more challenging for me to run faster than "7.5" (8:00 pace) for more than 30 minutes at gym A than gym B. The two differences? 1. Gym B offers an expansive view of Elliott Bay (ferries, boats, birds, the occasional seal), the Olympic mountains, and some train tracks. Gym A offers me a view of the street and the building across the street. Keeping your brain in a happy place on a treadmill is part of the game. 2. Gym B has great fans and circulation. Gym A doesn't. Overheating and air flow make a difference. I tend to do more challenging workouts on the treadmill than I do outside. It's the button factor and fear of flying off the back. Whereas outside, perhaps I'm a bit more of a wuss. Example: unless I'm in a 5k, it's hard for me to crank 5k (for me, that's 6:00-6:15) pace outside. But I can on the treadmill. So when I get off the treadmill, I usually say "wow, the treadmill is harder than running outside". Sort of.

nike+ is basically just a fancy pedometer, its essentially counting footsteps. meaning if your stride length isn't the same as its calibrated to, you're going to have issues. so even after you calibrate for running or walking, any time your stride length deviates, you're going to have issues. i honestly think 10% is about as good as you should expect nike+ to be.

i used a nike+ for a while, recently upgraded to a garmin. for a few runs, i tried both, to compare. sometimes, the nike+ might be dead on, so i'm not saying that it will be 10% off every time. what I am saying is that as far as repeatable accuracy, i wouldn't expect better than 10%. especially if you vary pace in a run. so while sometimes it might nail the distance, if i ran 5 miles according to the nike+, i wouldn't have any confidence to say anything other than i probably ran between 4.5 and 5.5 miles.